By Charles Romans
Carter County Times
The Carter County Fiscal Court held two special meetings, one on August 23 and the other on August 26, to approve items including tax rates and a contract for food service at the detention center. During the first meeting the court discussed setting the tax rates on both real and tangible properties. Magistrates Chris Huddle (Districts 1), Millard Cordle (District 3), and Harley Rayburn (District 5) were present for the called meeting, giving the court a quorum. The court voted unanimously to dispense with the minutes from the last meeting.
The court then moved to approve the tax rate for real property, with is property that is immovable and permanently attached to a location, as well as for tangible property, which is personal property that can be moved. An example of real property would be real estate such as land or homes. An example of tangible property (personal property) would be cars, appliances, etc.
The 2024 tax rate, broken down into its component parts is as follows:
County: (Real) .076 (Tangible) .086
School: (Real) .47 (Tangible) .47
Health: (Real) .06 (Tangible) .06
Extension: (Real) .043 (Tangible) .0548
Ambulance: (Real) .10 (Tangible) .10
The tax rate for the 2024 year has not changed, with the exception of the county real property. That tax rate for the previous year was .075 for real property and increased to .076 for the current year due to the ability of the court to accept the compensating rate.
The Fiscal Court also voted on one claim, the transmission repair on an Emergency Management vehicle. The repair work bill was $1,500, and the court voted unanimously to approve it.
During the second special meeting held on August 26, the Fiscal Court voted on food service providers for the county detention center. Bids for the food service were submitted by Trinity Food Service, Kellwell, and Summit. Magistrates from Districts 1, 3, and 5 were present once again at the special meeting. Carter County Jailer RW Boggs told the court that the new food service contract would begin on October 1, 2024, after their current contract with Trinity Food Service expires.
Boggs told the court that all the bids submitted were for hot meals, three per day. The price ranges are based upon how many inmates are being fed at any given time, and the price per meal decreases as the volume of inmates increases. Currently the detention center is in the 180-189 range for their number of inmates.
The most cost-efficient bid was submitted by Summit and would save the detention center $12,000 per year, according to Boggs. Boggs told the court his recommendation would be to sign a one-year contract with Summit, due to the savings, while still being able to provide inmates with three hot meals per day. The court considered Boggs’ recommendation, and voted unanimously to accept the Summit proposal for food service with the three hot meals.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
